Buford and East Coweta are set for a showdown in the Class 7A winner’s bracket final after East Coweta defeated Brookwood 4-3 and Buford bested Mill Creek 12-4.
“There’s some stout competition,” said East Coweta coach Franklin DeLoach. “It is a hotbed of fast pitch softball in Georgia. It’s as high-level as I have ever seen here in Columbus with the eight best teams in the highest class.”
East Coweta trailed 2-0 early against Brookwood after solo home runs from leadoff Lorelei Sullivan and the third batter, Madison Oliver. The Indians, which won the Class 7A state championship in 2017, 2018 and 2020, crawled back.
Maggie Stubbs advanced to second base on a 4-3 put-out and Madison Duffel hit an RBI-double down the left-field line to plate the first run.
“It’s the place to be in our country right now for college softball coaches,” DeLoach said of Columbus during the tournament. “It is a pretty talented group of student athletes.”
In the fourth inning, East Coweta got singles from Mallory Lumpkins and Jada Savage and then Riley Ratzlaff hit an RBI-double to plate a run. Stubbs hit a sacrifice fly to tie the game at 3 runs each. In the fifth inning, Duffel got on base with a single and got to second on a 4-3 put-out. Addie Joiner hit an RBI-single to left-center field to score the final run.
“With Brookwood, they scored their first two runs in the first inning on solo home runs with their leadoff and really punched us in the mouth. It’s just tough,” DeLoach said. “And our reward after this win is a meeting with Buford, so I’m focused on that now.”
In the Class 6A tournament winner’s bracket, Newnan beat South Effingham 5-0 and River Ridge defeated Lassiter 2-1. In the loser’s bracket, Pope beat Grovetown 10-1 and Effingham County beat Alcovy 9-0.
Harris County moved past Ola 9-3 and Northside-Columbus defeated Northgate 8-0 in the Class 5A winner’s bracket. In the loser’s bracket, Cambridge outlasted Cartersville 5-4 and Kell defeated Eastside 4-3.
In Class 4A, Heritage-Catoosa defeated Whitewater 10-0 and North Oconee beat Wayne County 12-0 in the winner’s bracket. In the loser’s bracket Seckinger defeated Perry 8-4 and Sonoraville beat West Laurens 5-2.
Wesleyan blanked Morgan County 10-0 and Hebron Christian defeated Gordon Lee 1-0 to advance in the Class 3A winner’s bracket. In the loser’s bracket, Jackson beat Pickens 6-1 and Harlem advanced past Pike County 7-0.
Appling County defeated Jeff Davis 9-5 and Banks County beat Vidalia 8-0 in the Class 2A winner’s bracket and in the loser’s bracket, Eagle’s Landing Christian beat Rockmart 11-10 and Toombs County bested Mount Paran 7-5.
In Class A Division I, Heard County moved past Prince Avenue Christian 6-5 and Mount Vernon beat Bacon County 9-3 to advance to the finals of the winner’s bracket. In the loser’s bracket, Dade County beat Metter 8-0 and Temple defeated Trion 10-6.
Lanier County beat Wilcox County 9-1 and Washington-Wilkes beat Georgia Military 4-2 to advance to the final of the winner’s bracket. In the loser’s bracket, Glascock County beat Bowdon 7-4 and Emanuel County Institute moved past Telfair County 15-2.
Follow the link to the brackets.
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